We Know Nothing: US Marine Joins The Other Shady Casualites In The War On ISIS

Makhmur, Iraq (TFC)– Post-action reports from Iraq reveal recent ISIS rocket barrages killed at least one US Marine, the State Department told press. Despite being just days old, the attack has already rippled outward, changing the war once more. It’s shockwave has also forced various, well, shady details and past incidents to the surface, all obscured within the black void of clandestine wartime theatre.

Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook disclosed the death of a “US Marine providing force protection fire support at a recently established coalition firebase”, USA Today reports. Several other Marines were reported WIA (Wounded In Action), and are reputedly undergoing treatment. After marking this as “the second combat death since the start of Operation: Inherent Resolve”, Cook steeled military personnel for ongoing combat.

America’s first official combat casualty was Delta Force Master Sgt. Joshua Wheeler, who died under circumstances as obscure as his unit. Pentagon spokespeople claimed Wheeler died following a raid which ultimately freed 70 Islamic State hostages. According to International Business Times, wounds from small arms fire claimed the man, who fought alongside Peshmerga and 30 other Americans. Government officials claim five IS fighters were “detained” and four killed, four Kurds were wounded.

The death toll doesn’t stop at these two Americans, despite the incidents’ portrayal in media. One of the first western military casualties was Canadian special forces Sgt. Joseph Doiron in 2015. Western and indigenous forces having intel and timeline disagreements isn’t unusual or unheard of, Doiron’s death was one such disagreement.

What’s for certain, AP reports, is he’d been killed by friendly Peshmerga fire as his squad returned from the front lines– that’s it. From there, Peshmerga claimed they mistook them for ISIS, saying the unit showed up unannounced to conduct airstrikes. “When they returned”, said director of coordination and relations for Peshmerga forces Hezhar Ismail, “the Peshmerga asked them to identify themselves.”

Peshmerga spokesperson Halgurd Hekmat claimed the soldiers “answered in Arabic, that’s when Peshmerga started shooting. It was their [the Canadians] fault.” Hekmat went on to call the soldiers actions “illogical”, “an improper action by the Canadians.” Canadian defense minister Jason Kenney disagreed, claiming the soldiers were returning from a outpost 200 meters behind the front line.

Eventually the incident was chalked up to battle fatigued fighters making a costly, but understandable mistake. No further efforts were made to answer the many questions haunting the sergeant’s death. Shortly afterward, the American military acknowledged it’s first casualty– Corporal Jordan L. Spears.

Then comes America’s most recent casualty: Marine Staff Sgt. Louis Cardin, killed in a firefight supporting Iraqi forces. According to the Daily Beast, the families of 200 marines including Cardin’s were notified of his units relocation to northern Iraq three days before. The US military provided no details on what they’d be doing, or even where in northern Iraq they’d gone.

Cardin’s death shatters a narrative peddled since the beginning of the war; one which portrays US Special Forces as non combative advisers within secure bases. These Marines instead operated out of a bare-bones firebase near the front, Daily Beast reports, directly involved in fighting. Another attack came just days after, claiming no US forces but instead, the lives of at least two militants.

The most striking aspect of this death is how it’s been reported on thus far– as if casualties are only just now occurring. What do all of these cases have in common but a dark, looming curtain fending off even the loved ones of soldiers?

All wars are sustained by commitment to cause, catalyzed by propaganda, and nourished with fear. By harnessing the power of media, and shock, the Islamic State achieved unprecedented propagandic capabilities. It gripped a people, who’d ultimately refuse conventional war, with fear and paranoid uncertainty. As a result, US Special Operations and their colleagues own this war, and there’s no embedding with them. That being said, and given the cases outlined herein, you make up your own mind as to what’s happening on the ground. Your guess is as good as anyone’s without top secret clearance.

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